#just been thinkin about this lately | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

elspethdekarios · 23 days

Text

Gale as an archmage

I've been thinking about this for a while. If you select Gale as an origin character in the character creator and play his intro, he introduces himself as Gale of Waterdeep™ he immediately follows with "please - no need to be intimidated."

Now I think we initially brush this statement off as Gale being full of himself, but the first time you talk to him and ask him to tell you about himself, there's an option to say something like "Come on, you must have stories from your time as archmage."

And I've always wondered - how would tav know this? Gale hasn't mentioned it. Which leads me to my research question:

Is Gale famous?

Not Elminster-famous, of course, but is he THE archmage of Waterdeep, known throughout the Realms? Is Gale of Waterdeep a legitimate title, not just one he decided to use because it sounds important?

Maybe all of this is common knowledge in DnD lore, but it's a fairly new world to me. Here's what I found about archmages:

From the Forgotten Realms fandom wiki (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Archmage):

Archmages were among the most powerful arcane spellcasters found throughout all of Faerûn. These practitioners of the Art were experts at manipulating and altering their spells, often in strange ways. Many cities across Faerûn had a single archmage who dedicated themselves to serve that settlement and its people. Some notable cities included Lyrabar in Impiltur, and the great western metropolis of Waterdeep. The term "archmage" was often used to refer to spellcasters who took on leadership roles among similarly-inclined practitioners of The Art. In the drow city of Menzoberranzan, the head of the arcane academy known as Sorcere was granted the title, Archmage of Menzoberranzan.

So, to summarize, archmages are super powerful, big cities often have a singular, dedicated archmage, and they take on leadership roles in the city, sometimes (or at least once) being deemed THE archmage of the city.

I've already seen posts about the insane amount of power held by archmages, so I'm not really going to go into that. I'm just interested in how well-known Gale would be in the Realms. One issue I'm running into while researching is that many people seem to approach the archmage in terms of DnD stats (spell levels, player levels, etc) rather than from a storytelling perspective.

I can't find much else specifically on how widely known archmages would be. There is a list of archmages on the Forgotten Realms wiki, but Gale isn't included on it. I'm assuming maybe BG3 lore is considered an off-shoot of FR lore and therefore not necessarily canon? Let me know if I'm wrong about this.

So that leaves me with message board responses. Here are some notable ones:

An old candlekeep.com forum on the differences between the titles used by magic users. Several users seem to agree with this person.

From the same thread as above.

Interestingly, DnD beyond has archmage categorized as a monster. I'm not sure if this applies only to evil-aligned mages or not, so anyone with more familiarity, feel free to chime in. Anyway, here's what DnD beyond says:

"Archmages are powerful (and usually quite old) spellcasters dedicated to the study of the arcane arts. Benevolent ones counsel kings and queens, while evil ones rule as tyrants and pursue lichdom. Those who are neither good nor evil sequester themselves in remote towers to practice their magic without interruption. An archmage typically has one or more apprentice mages, and an archmage's abode has numerous magical wards and guardians to discourage interlopers."

Gale does mention having students/apprentices at some point (he says something about being impatient with them if I remember correctly, but I can't remember when he actually says it), and, if he's Professor Gale in the epilogue, you're told that an apprentice delivered the invite to the party.

I also find it interesting that archmages typically have wards around their home to keep out intruders, implying that they're well-known enough to have people regularly trying to break into their home?? Or at least has happened enough times to warrant protection.

I also appreciate this reddit comment on a thread asking about the rarity of archmages:

This lead me to a super interesting reddit post which I really suggest you check out if you're interested. The OP breaks down the percentages of each class and level and translates that to city populations. I'm bad at math so that may be a horrible explanation. Anyway, here's a chart that they made:

I have been trying my hardest to put the alt text on the images for accessibility but I have no idea how that would work with this chart. I did include the text at the bottom for screen readers just in case. I'm sorry!

Sooooo someone in the comments asked specifically about Waterdeep and here's what someone who is good at math figured out! (They are correcting a previous comment with incorrect math, hence the first part of the comment):

Since a wizard is considered an archmage at level 18, it's safe to say that Gale would definitely be one of only a few wizards in Waterdeep with such a title. And if the above commenter's assumption about the Blackstaff being one of the only archmages in the city, Gale being of a similar level is HUGE, right? The Blackstaff is a big deal. From the Forgotten Realms wiki:

Blackstaff was the title and name given to the master of the eponymous staff and Blackstaff Tower, including Blackstaff Academy, as well as the Archmage of Waterdeep.

So if the Blackstaff is THE Archmage of Waterdeep, Gale, obviously, is not. But!!! If we can trust the math of the reddit users above, and we assume Gale was at least a level 19 wizard pre-orb/tadpole/whatever ... he would be one of two archmages in Waterdeep, second only to the Blackstaff themself.

I personally think that's enough renown to be a somewhat familiar name throughout Faerûn. So yes, Gale is a bit arrogant and, in his own words, pompous about being Gale of Waterdeep™ but perhaps it's warranted.

This has been a deep dive fueled by procrastination about writing the research papers I should actually be writing right now. Thank you for your time

#just been thinkin about this lately #gale #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #gale bg3 #bg3 lore #bg3 meta

220 notes · View notes

merrigel · 2 months

Text

Out of place

#artists on tumblr #illustration #animation #when you're at your friend's house and then they go do something #so you're just kinda sitting there #oc #agatha lockerby #vivian smith #been thinkin' about the girls again lately

133 notes · View notes

songofsaraneth · 23 days

Text

googled why the bird outside my apartment keeps singing from midnight to three am, and i think he is the one who wrote this article about how the only solution is find some bitches on his behalf

#is he a desperate young incel or a despondent old widower. who can tell #ramblings #birds #been thinkin a lot lately about birds that are emotionally significant to me bc there really are so many #plus i had a Moment with a hummingbird that died in my hands over the weekend (hospice situation) so just lots of feelings about birds rn

11 notes · View notes

seancefemme · 2 years

Text

Dream Girl Evil

#can’t sleep again….thinking about her #Elektra natchios #daredevil #daredevil fanart #I was catching up on new music and!!!! it’s her song!!!!#YOU LIKE ME BETTER IN YOUR HEAD / AT LEAST YOULL SANCTIFY ME WHEN IM DEAD / I AM NO ONES MORAL COMPASS #god it’s been months and I still wanna curl up and scream and throw up and sob when I think of her #she makes me insane fr #I’m cursed though cause she’s one of my favourite characters ever and I cannot draw her!!!!!$!#I sketch her SO much but I feel I can’t never fully capture her likeness it makes me want to bite chomp kill #anyways I feel like I’m overrendering a bunch of my art lately so I’m throwing this here quickly so I feel better sharing ugly art #constantly oscillating between NO ONE CAN KNOW I MAKE UGLY ART and hey who’s up and wants to see my silly little art :p #I also just can’t finish anything lately…I get bored or I get a better idea and my daredevil art graveyard is already piling up 😔#always thinkin about her in Matt’s apartment wearing his shirt and covered in blood *sighs dreamily*#mine

415 notes · View notes

raiiny-bay · 7 months

Text

he is the smuggest guy i know

#punchable face (affectionate)#i finally figured out what his - as i call it - ''apocalypse theme song'' is #it's juke box hero #like if mbz was a movie that is the song that would play while roadkill is kicking his ass #don't ask why. idk. it just has dusty energy #i have a few fun dhes edits planned #idk. i've just been thinkin about him a lot lately.#so yea.#rainyrambles #dl

20 notes · View notes

melon-cream-enmu · 1 year

Text

Sucks her dick but like…in moderation…..Counting my calories or somethin like that….

#about anyone #I’ve been thinkin bout girl cock a lot lately I can’t lie #I just #dudtsufibohurtsufigjcgstdufiv oh my gods womnf

55 notes · View notes

skyward-floored · 2 years

Text

Hmmm Four helping Warriors deal with feelings of being seen as just a pretty face/being objectified due to Cia because Four’s Zelda sort of went through the same thing once when Vaati kidnapped her because she was beautiful and he literally just wanted a bride

#been thinkin about the original 4s lately #HE KIDNAPPED HER JUST BECAUSE HE WANTED A BRIDE #THAT’S LITERALLY IT #there’s similarities there and I’m finding them #plus Warriors and Four should be a duo more often thank you #linkeduniverse #linked universe #lu warriors #lu four #lu dot #rambles from the floor #me having thoughts before bed #I’m on to something here I know it

253 notes · View notes

j-esbian · 3 months

Text

i feel like there is so much to be said about drizzt do’urden’s religious views and how he’s a stand-in for culturally christian atheists. he grew up in a corrupt religious society and has religious trauma, so as a result he views all religion as bad. at first it seems like he’s going to have a “pagan finds jesus” story but he eventually rejects mielikki too, and imo, it always felt out of character that he followed her in the first place so i wasn’t surprised when he changed his mind. he was looking for a name to label his preexisting system of ideals, which feels very much like christians who claim “all that matters is that you live by the bible and live in a godly manner”. many religions are about teachings and traditions as much as they are about “just being a good person and following god’s vibes” (which i feel like is INCREDIBLY standard in american protestantism)

i think a lot of it comes down to the fact that the forgotten realms (and a lot of fantasy tbh) treats the gods as just Very Powerful People instead of the forces of nature personified (and again this is to be expected from a christian culture, where jesus was Just A Guy)

#ik i don’t really post about dnd lore bc most of it sucks ass and i prefer to ignore it lmao #only a very large sum of money could get me to reread those books tho lmao #it’s to be expected that they would apply morality to the gods when dnd has a morality system yk #it doesn’t work imo. but the way they approach religion feels like it was written by someone who is not religious and doesn’t rly understand #it’s the latent catholicism talking but religions aren’t synonymous with moral systems #it’s ethical guidance for sure but more than that #it’s belief AND practice AND also faith that you can’t know everything #the latter is kind of off the table in a world where the gods tangibly exist bc then it just becomes #‘the king is so powerful and better than you and has many secrets that he keeps for your protection’#in this type of religious system it makes all clerics seem like sycophants or fools #and yet we also have drizzt who says the gods and their worship are pointless #(which is why i never really bought that he was bought into mielikki)#if you want to make a criticism about systems of power. most fantasy still has kings and queens #been thinkin about drizzt and the drow a lot lately after one of my side moots and i were talking lol #and just how. utterly garbage the official lore is. from all aspects #mine #dnd

5 notes · View notes

girlfox · 2 months

Text

#𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 ⠀⠀(⠀ⅰ.⠀)⠀⠀𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑:⠀⠀ಇ⠀⠀oh-kae!#thinkin' about persona 5 ! ahri & stardew ! ahri since i've been hooked on p5 lately and the stardew update just #dropped augghhh #dare i get another commission ...#i might design a phantom thieves outfit for ahri ehe #even though !! i think she would operate outside of the phantom thieves !!#but but but HMMMM #i just like plopping ahri into different universes sm

4 notes · View notes

shevr · 1 year

Note

literally said 'God Damn!!!' out loud at that selfie you are soo pretty

thank u very much im glad i could push you to blasphemy

#& thanks as well to every other nice comment that was left on this post mwah mwah mwa #honestly i strongly believe that 90% of how cute i look on this selfie was caused by some stuff getting blurred out in the process #and 9% extra by my hair hiding most my face anyway #my brow ridge's massive and the corners of my jaw are nasty ive been feeling not too great about all that lately #i appreciate peopl online thinkin im pretty in the pictures i present them sorry if i sound like a douche about it #it's just i don't know if they really are a good representation of reality it feels like a lucky strike idk idk #i have massive self loathing issues i have not even begun trying to fix yet man idunno.#ill go listen to more car seat headrest & midwest emo bullshit surely that ll help #god i wish i could write music i wish i could make songs.#how do words work. how do people just use those #shevr

24 notes · View notes

truckfreaks · 1 year

Text

i feel like most characterization of Papyrus in UT fan stuff is really bad and i think about it a lot

like idk i just hate when his character is reduced to "caricature of neurodivergence" and/or "too pure and simple for real life problems"

he isn't a complete dumbass incapable of comprehending srs issues, and it's annoying that ppl write him that way

#papyrus #undertale #sorry just been thinkin about ut a lot lately bc of course i have #and it doesnt happen ALL the time but I feel like there are so many fics and comics that just totally gloss over Anyone That Isn't Sans #bc like if he really was just Dum Cinnamon Rolle then that would invalidate all of the stuff his character does with actual skill #and i feel like the caricature of neurodivergence bit is particularly like #bad

37 notes · View notes

blujayonthewing · 1 year

Text

For context I was planning on doing a turquoise next but I'm playing Melliwyk on Saturday and purple is her color

#I have a ton of ink colors in just sample vials but also. do I own full bottles of three (3) of these purple inks. yes.#coincidentally the diamine marine writes lighter/ brighter than that swab and it IS about the color of mel's eyes #but that's not why I bought it and it's also not how I would choose an ink to write notes in my notebook/ spellbook for her #the ink that's in my pen now and almost empty is a really wonderful pink! been thinkin bright springy colors lately #I'm leaning the scented violet because it's a new one and I'm a silly little goblin enchanted by the novelty of scented anything #it's really not an especially melliwyk purple but it's a compromise between 'NEW! BRIGHT!!' and 'mel time. purble'#poll #about me

15 notes · View notes

grimforks · 1 month

Text

thinking about the way i was experiencing real, honest to god genuine psychosis all through middle and high school and up until idk a couple of years ago. what the fuck.

#immy yelps #i didnt tell anyone bc i didnt want people to see me differently for it and i also knew i wasnt in a position #where i could get help for it anyways #but even when i did try to tell people they got weird with me about it and didnt seem to take me seriously #like i was struggling really badly and despite trusting these ppl they just side eyed me and brushed it off. lol.#it wasnt even like i would dump it on them randomly i straight up was like 'hey im having a hard time can i talk about it'#and still!!!!#anyways people with psychosis genuiny get treated like ass even when you seem 'normal' most of the time #once you reveal your psychosis people either think you're attention seeking or dangerous or dont take it seriously #or what the fuck ever. there's no compassion.#the only person that i can think of that i've told abt it that took me seriously was my sister #and i told her recently. years after the worst of it. because yes it still lingers and i still have flare ups.#idk. just been thinkin about it lately ig

3 notes · View notes

skellys-selfships · 1 year

Text

the mood lately-